Head rail assembly



Oct. 13, 1942. w SARRAN ET AL 2,299,060

HEAD RAIL ASSEMBLY Filed April 29, 1941 3 9' INNTOR.

my, 6 W I flu juum @ATTORNEYJ Patented Oct. 13, 194-2 HEAD RAIL ASSEMBLYWallace E. Sarran and Robert E. Metzger, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors toThe Chas. W. Breneman Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of OhioApplication April 29, 1941, Serial No. 390,968

Claims.

This invention relates to a head rail assembly construction forsuspending and operating window curtains, shades and blinds. It isparticularly concerned with a head rail adapted to suspend and operate aroll type window shade formed from a plurality of relatively thinflexible slats sustained in approximate edge to edge relationship bysets of interwoven flat tapes. A blind of this type forms the subjectmatter of our co-pending application Serial No. 388,192, filed April 12,1941.

The present application is directed to a complete head rail assembly,that is, the head rail proper, the brackets which support the head railand maintain it in position and the cord lock.

The application is also directed to the construction of the brackets-perso as brackets of the general type of the invention may be adapted touse with head rails of a construction other than that herein disclosed.The cord lock illustrated in the drawing ofthis application andhereinafter described embodies conventional principles of constructionof this type of mechanism, and although it is fully disclosed as acomponent part of a completely operative structure, no claim of noveltyis advanced to the construction of the cord lock per se.

As previously stated, the blind shown in our co-pending applicationcomprises a blind formed from a plurality of relatively thin flexibleslats sustained in approximate edge to edge relationship. The head railof this invention is particularly adapted to support and operate such ablind and it is also adapted to operate blinds of the general type shownin our co-pending application but not within the scope of thatinvention. In general, the head rail of the present invention may besaid to be adapted for use with any slot type blind regardless of thematerial from which the slats are constructed and regardless of theirexact relationship one to the other.

One of the objects of the present invention has been to provide a headrail assembly for supporting a blind in which the rail is readilydetachable from the supporting brackets so that the entire blind withthe head rail attached may be removed from the brackets for cleaning,storage or other purposes.

Another object has been to provide a head rail construction in which theblind is readily detachable from the head rail so that after the latterhas been removed from the brackets the blind may be removed from thehead rail. I

Another object has been to provide a simple and compact head railassembly adapted to support and to elevate a blind and one in which theoperating mechanism is entirely concealed from the view of a personstanding in the room in which the blind is suspended.

Another purpose has been to provide a bracket for suspending a head railin which the head rail can be very firmly held in position oralternatively removed from the bracket by manual manipulation of asimple latching element.

Other and further advantages will be apparent from an examination of thefurther and more detailed description of the invention when consideredin conjunction with the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view taken longitudinally through a head railassembly embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a complete blind including a head rail.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the head rail assembly.

Figure 4 is a sectional view along the line 4-4 in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation showing the rear of the head railassembly.

Figure 6 is an elevation showing the inside face of the mountingbracket.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 1-1 in Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a cord lock and guide which may beutilized as a component element of the entire head rail assembly.

Figure 9 is an elevation of the outer side of the mounting bracket.

In the structure shown in the drawing which represents a preferredembodiment of the invention the head rail is preferably formed from asingle piece of material such as wood; the advantage being that the headrail can be simply and economically milled from blank stock. As shown,the face of the head rail may be grooved for decorative purposes duringthe milling operation. The head rail is generally indicated at it. Atthe upper edge of the face of the rail a beading I l is provided to hidethe ropes which lie behind it. The top of the rail just behind thebeading I I may be channeled longitudinally as at E2 to provide a wayfor the ropes.

Two ropes are utilized in the preferred embodiment illustrated. Theseare indicated at I3 and M respectively. The ropes are first fixed to thehead rail at the back of the blind in a manner which will be discussedlater and then extended. downwardly behind the blind, under the blind tothe face side, then up the face side of the blind to the head rail. Theropes then pass through appropriate apertures, indicated at I5I5, passover respective pulleys I6Il, and through the channel I2 to a point nearone end of the head rail. From here they pass downwardly, together, overa double pulley I8 and through a cord lock I9 to depend from the headrail at a side of the blind in position for manual manipulation.

The pulleys I6 and I! are mounted in niches 23 cut into the bottom ofthe channel I2. They may be journalled on brads or pins 2| which aredriven through the rail from the rear face thereof to extend through theniches and into the rail forwardly of the niches see Figure 4) As shown,the pulley I8, may be mounted in the cord lock I3. The cord lockincludes a U-shaped bracket 22 having a lock-dog 23 pivotally mounted ona pin 24 between the parallel walls thereof. The curved end of thebracket defines a vertical passageway for the ropes, and the pulley I 8,being disposed at the top of the bracket between the walls of the U,confines them therein. The dog 23 is pivoted near the mouth of thebracket with its free end extending toward the curved portion. The freeend of the dog is preferably rounded and toothed to grip the ropesbetween it and the inner surface of the curved portion of the bracketwhen the dog is tilted upwardly by the weight of the blind. A pair ofstops may be struck in the side walls of the bracket, as at 25, to limitthe downward movement of the dog. To operate the cord lock the ropes I3and I4 are swung over against the toothed end of the dog and thenreleased. The weight of the blind pulling on the ropes will cause thedog to tilt upwardly when the teeth are engaged in the ropes and theropes are then forced against the side of the bracket and locked there.The ropes are freed by pulling them down and away from the dog.

Preferably, the cord lock bracket is countersunk in the head rail sothat the top of the roller I8 is level with the bottom of the channelI2. The seat for the bracket may be routed out of the wood rail or cutby other means to provide a snug fit. Below the curved end of thebracket an aperture 25 for the ropes is cut through to the bottom of thehead rail. To keep th ropes from twisting in the lock a plate 2! havinga pair of longitudinal slots 2323, one for each rope, may be providedfor the aperture 23. The edges of the slots are preferably rounded asshown in Figure 8 so that the ropes do not become out and raveled. Atthe two ends of the plate 21, holes are provided for brads or screws sothat the plate may be fixed in place.

At the lower edge of the rear face of the head rail a corner is cut outto provide a step 29. The step may be cut when the rail is first milledout, for it runs the full length of the head rail. The vertical wall ofthe step is preferably concave. The wall is out so that the concavitystarts at the lower edge and stops short of the upper end (see Figure4). This provides a sharp edge 30 at the bottom of the wall and ashoulder (H at the top. The vertical wall of the step may besubstantially as wide as one of the slats of a shade provided, ofcourse, that a shade formed from narrow slats is being suspended.

The upper slat of the shade may be placed against the concave wall and akey bar 32, substantially as wide and as deep as the step 29, is placedin the step over the upper slat. The sharp edge of the step should hitthe shade between the two uppermost slats and when the key is nailed inplace, the sharp edge 30 and the key bar 32 will nearly meet between thetop slat and the next lower one. Thus, along the entire width of theblind the uppermost slat is gripped and held in a straight line by thekey bar. This continuous and tight positioning prevents the blind frombecoming warped or bowed unevenly, as would be the case if it weresecured in only a few places over its entire length.

The key bar also provides a lock for the end of each one of the ropes atth back of the head rail (see Figures 4 and 5). The back of the headrail above the key slot is grooved as indicated at 33. A knot 34 may beformed in the end of the rope and the knotted end placed in the groove.The inner side of the key bar is notched out as at 35 below the end ofthe groove 33 and the rope extends downwardly therethrough. This angulargroove is advantageous because the sharp edge provided assists ingripping the rope when the key bar is in place.

The head rail is mounted in a pair of end brackets 3'I--3'I whichencloses the ends of the rail. Each bracket includes an end wall 38, atop wall 39 and a back wall 48. The three walls may be made in one piecewith the back wall and top wall being turned over inwardly at rightangles to the back wall. A pair of holes for screws or nails is providedin each of these walls so that the bracket may be mounted either againstthe top, at the side, or on the front of a window frame. A gate elementM is provided at the front of the bracket. The gate 4I includes a faceplate 42 and a side strip 43 extending at right angles to the face. Whenthe gate is in closed position the side strip lies along the outer faceof the end wall 38 of the bracket and is pivotally journalled thereon bya rivet 44 which passes through the upper end of the side strip and endwall. The end wall where the side strip overlies it is recessed so thatwhen the gate is closed the outer surface of the strip will be flushwith the portion of the end wall which is not recessed. The screw holesin the end wall may have embossing around them as shown at 45. Thisembossing holds the end wall 38 clear of the window frame when thebracket is installed and permits free movement of the gate. A detent 46made by stamping is provided in the strip 43 and the end wall 38 to holdthe gate in the closed position (see Figures 6 and 9). Also a tab 41 maybe bent inwardly and curved downwardly from the lower edge of the faceplate to facilitate manual opening of the gate.

The head rail proper is mounted in the pair of brackets on an angleplate 49 fixed to the inside wall 38 of the bracket. The angle plate 43has a shelf portion 50 extending at right angles to the end wall of thebracket for engagement in a slot 5| in the end of the head rail (Figure'7). Each slot extends horizontally and is open to the end and back sideof the rail. Since the slots 5| are quite narrow, they may be readilycut with a circular saw.

To install the head rail in the brackets, the gate is swung open asshown in dot-dash lines in Figure 4. The rail is then slipped into placewith the shelves 50 engaging in the slots 5|. When the rail is back inthe brackets resting on the shelves 50 and against the back walls 48 ofthe brackets, the gate 4| is swung down and closed.

The upper end of the gate element M is rounded to conform to the roundedbeading II on the upper edge at the face of the head rail. As shown inFigure 4, the head rail is enclosed snugly between the gate and backwall of the bracket when the gate is closed. If round-headed screws areused, the head rail may be notched out to clear them. The notchesnecessary will be apparent to the one installing the head rail and aretherefore not shown here. Also, due to the many variations in windowsizes, the slots may be cut relatively deeply into the ends of the rail.Then by furnishing the rail in even inch or two inch sizes from theshortest to the longest lengths, the ends of the rail can be trimmed offto fit odd width windows without necessitating the cutting of deeperslots to fit over the respective shelves in the brackets.

When the blind is positioned in the head rail assembly it may be raisedand lowered by pulling the ropes I3 and 14. As illustrated anddescribed, each rope is looped around the underside of the shade, andwhen pulled, an upward rolling motion is imparted to the shade.Accordingly, the shade will coil on itself and when fully elevated willform a compact roll beneath the head rail.

In placing the head rail assembly in position the brackets are firstaffixed and the gates are raised. The rail is then positioned in thebrackets in the manner described and the gates are closed therebycompleting the assembly. If there is occasion to remove the rail andshade for cleaning or storage, the gates may be opened and the railremoved but there is no necessity for disturbing the brackets and thesemay be left in position.

The shade may be affixed to the rail by nailing through the key bar 32and it may also be affixed in some more readily detachable way, forexample the use of screws, bolts or the like. If it is desired to removethe shade from the head rail, this can be accomplished by removing themeans eifecting the attachment and the head rail and key bar may then bereplaced in the brackets.

One of the advantages of the structure resides in the fact that theoperating mechanism is totally concealed behind the beading II and theentire assembly presents a neat and even decorative effect.

Having fully described our invention we desire to be limited only by theensuing claims:

1. A head rail assembly for a blind comprising a pair of spacedbrackets, a rail adapted to be supported by said brackets, a step struckfrom said rail over the entire length thereof, and a key bar forsupporting a blind against the step; said key bar being secured in thestep.

2. A head rail assembly for a blind formed from a series of narrow slatssupported in edgeto-edge relationship, comprising, a pair of spacedbrackets, a rail supported by said brackets, a step formed in said railalong the entire length thereof; said step being slightly wider than theslat of a blind, a key bar for supporting a blind against the step, andmeans for holding the key bar against the rail along a line intermediatethe slats of a blind positioned against the step.

3. A head rail assembly for a window blind formed from a series ofnarrow slats supported in edgeto-edge relationship, comprising, a pairof spaced brackets,- a rail supported by said brackets, a step formed insaid rail along the entire length thereof; said step having a portion ofits vertical surface bowed inwardly of the head rail to present a sharpedge, and a key bar positioned in the step for holding a blind againstthe said sharp edge.

4. In a head rail assembly for a blind, a rail having a slot in the endthereof, a step struck from said rail, a key bar for supporting a blindagainst the step and a bracket for supporting the rail; said bracketbeing adapted to fit over the end of the rail and key bar and includinga shelf portion for insertion in the slot in the rail and a pivoted gateswingable outwardly to permit disengagement of the key bar from therail.

5. A bracket for supporting a head rail assembly comprising a railportion having a step struck therefrom, a slot in the end thereof and akey bar for supporting a blind against the step; said bracket comprisingan end wall, a top wall, and a side wall adjacent said end wall, a shelfmember for insertion into the slot in the head rail and a swinging gatejournalled in the end wall; said gate when in closed position formingwith the fixed walls of the bracket a plurality of surfaces forpreventing relative movement between the elements of the head railassembly.

WALLACE E. SARRAN. ROBERT E. METZGER.

